Testimony from Uyghurs in China, Abdurehim Turdi died in Konasheher country. His name was mentioned in Xinjiang Police files which includes 23 thousand detainees personal information. The vide said he died there, but there's no any further info, when we're talking, people are dying in Uyghur concentration camps.
 
 

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Nighmet Yarmemet, born 14 January in Ghulja, the mostly targeted region, got arrested this yr, sentenced 8 years in prison recently, cause of studied in Turkey. Uyghurs keep being arrested, it is happening continuesly, but it is really hard to get info out of China on time.
 

 
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Dhuhr, 14:09 at Urumqi. 
We are praying for the victims of the mass incarceration campaign in Xinjiang. 
Name: Adil Imin. 
Ethnicity: #Uyghur. 
Profile: https://shahit.biz/#5121 —— 
Pray together: http://scantopray.art
 

 
testifying party

Testimony 1|2: Tahir Imin, an Uyghur activist residing in Washington, DC. (brother)

about the victim

Adil Imin, 37 years old (as of November 2019), was a transporation business owner. He's a father of four.

current location

---

chronology of detention(s)

He was sentenced sometime in 2018 as retaliation against the testifier's activism.

suspected and/or official reason(s) for detention

Tahir Imin is certain that it is because of his (Tahir's) having spoken to foreign media about the Uyghur issue.

last reported status

Allegedly sentenced to 10 years in prison.

how testifier(s) learned of victim's situation

Not stated.

additional information

Mention in the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/wo ... t-act -------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 
entry created on: 2019-08-19

entry last modified on: 2019-12-22

last update from testifier(s): 2019-12-27 Collapse Read »

Earlobe Red Dates are selling in European market. It's produced in Uyghur Homeland by Uyghur forced labour, it is really sad to see in front of your eyes people are buying these products linked to Uyghur forced labour and helping Chinese government to build more forced labouyr camps.
 

 
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On September 3, 2022, the Selawat Selapanan event was held at the Balong Mosque, Roudlotul Ulum Islamic Boarding School. This event was attended by Habib Abdul Qadir bin Zen Ba'bud and the Hadroh Babassalam group. The event starts at 20.00 until 23.00.
 

 
t the end of the Pondok Caretaker event, Kiai Ahmad Nailul Basith and Mrs. Nyai, Siti Nur Jannah gave a speech for the implementation of Selawat Selapanan. Hopefully this activity can continue to be carried out regularly.
 
 
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Israeli occupation authorities hand over Najeh Bakirat, head of the Administration Department of Awqaf and Al-Aqsa Mosque Affairs, a ban order from Al-Aqsa for a week.
 
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The Israeli occupation authorities on Sunday morning forced a Palestinian family to knock down their own home in the occupied Jerusalem. town of Silwan, south of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
 


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UKIm Neeli Mosque, Rochdale Open Day today, All welcome.
 
address:  25-27 Hare St OL11 1JL,UK
 
12-4PM
 

 
 
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21 Muslim worshippers were killed including Mawlawi Mujib Rahman Ansari during Friday prayers today after a bombing targeted Guzargah Mosque in Herat. Herat’s police spokesman Mahmoud Rasooli: “One of the suicide bombers blew himself up while kissing his hands.”
 
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More than 7,000 colonial Israeli settlers broke into Al-Aqsa Mosque in the occupied City of Jerusalem during the month of August 2022, according to Al-Qastal news network.
 
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The Israeli's violations against Jerusalemites in August varied between settlers' storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque, arrests, demolition of facilities, and decisions of expulsion.
 
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1. A Saudi court has sentenced a former imam of the Grand Mosque in Mecca to 10 years in prison. Sheikh Saleh al Talib was detained in 2018, following his sermon criticising a government body over concerts and events that violate the kingdom’s religious and cultural norms.

 
 
2. Democracy for the Arab World Now says the court sentenced Talib to jail after overturning his previous acquittal. The group says this is part of a growing trend where clerics and imams face imprisonment for opposing reforms pursued by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
 
 
The sentencing of Sheikh Talib is not unprecedented as a number of Saudi clerics, with  ultra-conservative views , and critical of Prince Salman’s transition blueprint have been put behind bars, according to the BBC.

Sheikh Talib’s arrest has exposed deep fault lines in the Kingdom.

For instance, Turki-al-Shaloub, a self-styled anti-corruption scribe with over a million followers on Twitter described the verdict as “one of the stories of cruelty, corruption and injustice of the Salman regime”.

Social media backlash to the decision has been intense. Collapse Read »

May Allah have mercy on Shaykh Mujib ur- Rahman Ansari who was killed earlier today just before the Friday prayers inside the mosque by a bomb blast in Afghanistan. He tried his best to spread the correct dawah in his homeland, what a huge loss. May Allah accept him as a martyr
 
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Londoners: To be aware that there us a mosque just around the corner from Euston train Station. The ShahJalal Mosque is located in Starcross St. Women can pray upstairs.
 

 
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Newly built 1200-capacity mosque in Olabisi Onabanjo University by the Muslim Community there at the Main Campus , in Ago-Iwoye Ogun State. I know how hard it is to raise funding for school mosques, so thanks to all the donors .
 
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 First Female Muslim Pilot In Jamaica! Hassanah Al-Saba is the first Muslim Pilot in Jamaica who has stopped at nothing in ensuring she fulfills her childhood dream. The #hijab means a lot to her and was in no way a hindrance to achieving her dream, despite the stigma.
 
 

 
 

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Perspective of Pakistan’s displacement caused by the flood. One-third of the country is underwater.
 

 

 

 
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Report by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) regarding what China calls “Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region” (XUAR) states “serious human rights violations” against the Uyghur and “other predominantly Muslim communities” have occurred.
 
 
]click and check the report pdf format[/url]
 
 
 
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We can all help end China's genocide of the Uyghurs: 
1. Don't buy products from China, especially cotton 
2. Don't use China's tech products 
Uyghur activist @nuryturkel told me in Taiwan
 
 

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]Original article link[/url]
 
 The eminent #Uyghur historian Shérip Khushtar has passed away at the age of 100. He was a remarkable man who lived through many of the events he chronicled. I've learned so much from his work over the years, but what I will cherish most is the memory of meeting him in person.

 

 
Around 2014, a friend and I were walking down the street in Urumchi when Shérip Khushtar walked by. My friend introduced me. For the next hour, Shérip Khushtar shared with us vivid memories of life in the Uyghur region six, seven, eight decades earlier.
 

 
He had known many of the people I write about in my own work on the Republican era. Now, with his passing, we have lost one of our last links to that era in Uyghur history. But Shérip Khushtar left a rich legacy of books and articles we will be learning from for decades to come.
 

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Far Right Hindu group creating a ruckus and protesting in the middle of a mall in Bhopal India because Muslim employees of the mall offer Namaz in a designated multi faith prayer place. Now, the mall bans Muslims to offer Namaz there.
 
Location: DB mall Bhopal India
 
 
 

 
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Meet a sinister multi-billion-dollar conglomerate that has its own military force, universities, and jails.
 
]This original article is from here[/url]
 

 
 
 

Barracks of a paramilitary unit operated by XPCC. Credits.Beijing’s persecution in Xinjiang is deeply tied in with an organization set up specifically to squeeze out ethnic identities on its westernmost flank.

Shocking proof that the persecution of indigenous Turkic peoples in Xinjiang has been engineered and propelled by an organization specifically set up to squeeze out its indigenous population, has been uncovered by new research.

The extent to which the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC), also known as the Bingtuan, originally set up seventy years ago to guard the Western frontiers, has mutated over time to create an “environment of extraordinary terror and oppression” has been laid bare by academics at the Sheffield Hallam University’s Helena Kennedy Centre for International Justice.

According to “Until Nothing is Left, China’s Settler Corporation and its Human Rights Violations in the Uyghur Region,” the XPCC, steered by Beijing, but run locally, has evolved to the point whereby even the most intimate moments of Uyghur life are “surveilled, judged, and punished.”

The alarming conclusions of the report found that the small border force set up in 1954 during the Mao era, now functions as an immense multi-billion-dollar conglomerate with thirteen listed companies, and direct and indirect corporate  holdings amounting to more than 862,000 entities worldwide.

Originally focused on agriculture and construction, the Bingtuan also now operates corporations in energy, mining, chemicals, oil and gas extraction, logistics, apparel, electronics, wine, food processing, insurance, tourism, and many other sectors. “The goods produced by the XPCC reach far into global supply chains, and XPCC construction projects operate not only in the XUAR but throughout China and across Central Asia, the Middle East, and Africa,” note the authors.

Managing one sixth of the region’s total land, one sixth of the region’s total population, and much of its governing structures, the XPCC has its own military force, media networks, and high-quality schools and universities. It runs prisons, distributes and requisitions land, and mobilizes hundreds of thousands of Han from inner China to settle the region, and thereby dilute the indigenous population, building them houses and even cities, and grabbing land from local farmers to do so.

Most troubling, the Bingtuan has been charged with building and running the vast network of so-called re-education centers and forced labor programs that have seen more than a million corralled into ex-judicial detention to face torture and every kind of privation, and many more swallowed up into euphemistically named “poverty alleviation” schemes around China making goods for Western markets.

“All enterprises and investment projects in the region are expected as part of their corporate responsibility to engage in the government’s programs to ‘transform’ and indoctrinate Uyghur people and to ‘transfer’ and coerce them into labor-intensive work,” states the report. Subsidies and incentives are lavished on compliant companies and all entities operating in Bingtuan territory are obliged to perform central roles in the repression inflicted on the Uyghurs and other minoritized citizens.
 

 
 
 
The human rights violations implicit in its reach earned the XPCC and two of its highest officials sweeping US sanctions in July 2019 thereby banning all products under its umbrella from entering the USA.

The report points out that XPCC products, particularly tomatoes, coal, cotton and wool fabrics cited for export cannot escape tainting global supply chains, and although now forbidden from entering the U.K. and the United States, are polluting trade around the world due to their complex and opaque accountability networks.

One case study after another showing XPCC encroachment on land, its appropriation of scarce water resources, its destruction of ancient and traditional settlements and cultural and religious landmarks prove incontrovertibly that the relentless forward march of the paramilitary corporation, ordered by Beijing, has one end goal, that of the elimination or at the very least total assimilation of the Turkic peoples.

The economic, physical, mental, and emotional effect on the local population has taken its toll as farmers whose families have tilled their land for centuries see bulldozers raze their oasis homes, carved pillars and orchards to build concrete monolithic housing estates for incoming Chinese settlers. Many are even given bonuses if they demolish their own homes, and surrender their land without a whisper, after which they are forcibly relocated to state-run and monitored communities, “sterile, treeless, and anodyne,” say the authors, “maximizing visibility and surveillability.”
 
 
 
 
The report’s deep dive into the machinations of the XPCC reveal an orchestrated campaign lead by Beijing and collaborated with on the ground, to terrorize every Turkic citizen into shedding their cultural heritage and language in favor of Han practices and Xi Jinping’s vision of a “New Era.”

Xi’s orders to “chop the weeds and destroy their roots, eliminate the evil until nothing is left,” are personified in the roll out of tyranny since 2016 which has seen the XPCC transform the Uyghur region into a virtual open prison. Those who weren’t interned, lived under the spotlight of surveillance and networks of neighborhood snitches, the terror of practicing any religious faith, knocks on the door at midnight, disappearing academics, authors and friends and communities were gripped by the fear of what tomorrow might bring.

Every action and decision was, and still is, laced with the fear that disobedience would mean incarceration without trial. All these charges are laid at the feet of the XPCC by the authors of the report, who urge the international community to stand jointly against the monolith.

“The main purpose of the XPCC is to control, intimidate, disperse, and ultimately break down the Uyghur people until there is nothing left of their culture,” said Laura Murphy, Professor of Human Rights and Contemporary Slavery at the Helena Kennedy Centre for International Justice at Sheffield Hallam University and one of the authors of the report.

“The corporate empire that it has built on the backs of its forced labor programs has a huge footprint in the global economy, and it’s essential that world leaders in both business and government stand against the XPCC and its violations of human rights. As long as companies around the world continue to source from XPCC subsidiaries, Uyghurs and other local peoples in the region will continue to suffer.”
 
 

Direct action and a raft of more sanctions, including import bans on goods grown, processed or manufactured by the XPCC, should be imposed and Magnitsky sanctions widened to include more of its leaders, particularly the chief instigator of the worst excesses of recent clampdowns, former CCP Xinjiang Secretary Chen Quanguo himself, says the report.

Backing the research, 20 co-chairs of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) from across the political spectrum and the world, have called for urgent action to hold the XPCC to account. Reiterating the need for robust trade measures against the body, to include “export controls against the 2,873 companies internationally in which the XPCC holds a majority stake,” it also advocates reforming modern slavery legislation to ban the import of goods made by the XPCC and other entities responsible for forced labor in the Xinjiang region.

Following the release of the report, Uyghur groups, including the World Uyghur Congress and the End Uyghur Forced Labour coalition have joined forces to call on “all companies in all countries to sever all relationships with XPCC companies and subsidiaries.” Collapse Read »

This original article is from ]here[/url]
 
China’s burgeoning propaganda to forge a better image of Beijing has taken on US-based social media platforms as international concerns over human rights violations and genocide against the Uyghur population in Xinjiang increase.



United Nations High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet will step down this month amid brickbats from rights groups and Western governments following her visit to China in May this year.

Bachelet has been criticised for her soft rhetoric about China’s potential human rights abuses, including the ongoing genocide of Uyghurs in Xinjiang. Soon after, Reuters reported exclusively that China lobbied for support from other countries to ask Bachelet to scrap an upcoming report on human rights violations in Xinjiang. 

This is one of many acts by Beijing to control information - an objective that researchers at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) called "central" to the Communist Party’s geopolitical policy. In a recent report, ASPI states that China utilises disinformation in order to "influence international public opinion." 

ASPI’s report, along with a plethora of others from various thinktanks and legacy media outlets, points out that China’s disinformation campaign has been evident on US-based social media platforms including Twitter and Facebook. Among the over 6.7 million tweets and retweets mentioning Xinjiang that the report analysed, over 60 percent were posted by Chinese state media and diplomats. 

A joint report by Propublica and the New York Times also dug into over 3,000 videos on Western social media platforms in which Uyghur speakers are seen denying accusations of Beijing’s genocide and forced labour. The report states these people seemed to have followed a similar script, as the use of "complete nonsense" appeared in over 600 of these videos and over 1,000 said they uploaded such videos in response to former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo’s speech denouncing human rights abuses in Xinjiang. 

Chinese president Xi Jinping stressed multiple times that the internet is the "battlefield" of information competition. Officials said in a statement that the variety of voices "brought an enormous crash and challenge" to China’s "mainstream ideology," and that they now strive to "unify thoughts."  

On Xinjiang, Beijing reiterated its accusation that any reports of human rights violation in the region have been "fabricated by the US and other Western countries," calling them "the lie of the century" with the intention to smear China with "falsified information."

CREATING THE “CHINESE DREAM”

Using social media to spread pro-China rhetoric is part of the CCP’s effort to boost its soft power, according to Dr Gregary Winger, assistant professor at the University of Cincinnati’s School of International and Public Affairs specialising in cybersecurity. 

"Disinformation campaigns waged via social media are new, but the underlying practice is a form of propaganda and reflects an effort to strengthen China's soft power," Dr Winger told FairPlane. "Specifically, China is not Russia," he added. "While Putin and the Russian government are seemingly comfortable being feared and alienated from the international order, China is not." 

The expert said that China seeks to present an admirable image to the Western world.

"The basis of Xi Jingping's worldview and the Chinese Dream are positing China as an alternative model of governance that should be admired and emulated abroad," he explained. "Soft power is the ability to convince others of that fact and persuade them to embrace China's vision."

Such campaigns include attacking researchers investigating the genocide of Uyghur people in Xinjiang, a report by Mandiant showed. The report investigated 72 fake news sites and social media posts that are linked to a Chinese PR firm named Shanghai Haixun Technology Co, which reportedly sells "Europe and US Positive Energy" content creation packages for English-speaking audiences. 

"Content promoted by the campaign includes efforts to reshape the international image of Xinjiang, criticism of the US and its allies, and attempts to discredit critics of the PRC government," the report reads. "We observed efforts to smear anthropologist Adrian Zenz - known for his research on Xinjiang and China’s reported genocide against the Uyghur population - through website articles and social media posts."

GOING UNDER THE RADAR

China’s state media has reportedly adopted a new strategy to spread the Republic's narrative on social media: certain journalists working at China Daily, Global Times and Xinhua were found to have obscured their online bio by hiding who they work for.

For instance, CGTN’s chief US correspondent calls himself "TV Host/Journalist" on Twitter, while Xinhua’s Berlin reporter’s bio became "Chinese correspondent in Europe."

While many have been marked by social media as "China state-affiliated media," others successfully went under the radar, and were found to have run ads targeting American users. CGTN employees who were able to run Facebook ads for their content that attack Western countries, including the US, have been dubbed "international influencers."

Dr Winger says China’s disinformation campaign to save its image will likely result in a fiasco. 

"China's human rights record, and especially the international campaign on abuses in Xinjiang, are embarrassing and undermine China's soft power," he said. "This is particularly true in Europe and the United States, where concerns about human rights can lead to real economic costs in the form of economic boycotts."

"The disinformation campaign is a response to these efforts and an attempt to limit the economic and political damage to China's reputation," he added. "I do not believe these campaigns will be particularly successful in either North America or Europe, but they may help in other parts of the world like South America."

ASPI researchers say that Beijing will likely bolster its external propaganda by working with overseas Chinese diaspora groups - many oh which are reportedly radical in support of the CCP – and using emerging technology to generate native phrases to improve its campaign. 

The report advises governments to expand economic sanctions on parties who spread propaganda, similar to the ones launched in response to Russia's disinformation campaigners about the Ukraine War, as well as provide more funding to researches exposing China’s propaganda system.   Collapse Read »

]Arabic Language Report Link[/url]
]English Report link[/url]
]Chinese Language Report Link[/url]
 

 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The People’s Republic of China (PRC) actively attempts to manipulate and dominate global discourse on Xinjiang and to discredit independent sources reporting ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity conducted against predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and members of other ethnic and religious minority groups in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.  PRC-directed and -affiliated actors lead a coordinated effort to amplify Beijing’s preferred narratives on Xinjiang, to drown out and marginalize narratives that are critical of the PRC’s repression of Uyghurs, and to harass those critical of the PRC.

MESSAGING TACTICS

PRC messaging tactics seek to drown out critical narratives by both flooding the international information environment to limit access to content that contradicts Beijing’s official line, and by creating an artificial appearance of support for PRC policies. Messengers use sophisticated A.I. -generated images to create the appearance of authenticity of fake user profiles.  The PRC works to silence dissent by engaging in digital transnational repression, trolling, and cyberbullying.

Flooding To Drown Out Critical Narratives

The PRC floods conversations to drown out messages it perceives as unfavorable to its interests on search engines  and social media feeds, and to amplify Beijing’s preferred narratives on its treatment of Uyghurs.  Pro-PRC stakeholders flood information ecosystems with counternarratives, conspiracy theories, and unrelated news items to suppress narratives detailing PRC authorities’ atrocities in Xinjiang. Government social media accounts, PRC-affiliated media, private accounts, and bot clusters, likely all directed by PRC authorities, assist in this effort.

Astroturfing To Create a False Appearance of Support

To manipulate narratives on Xinjiang, pro-PRC actors engage in “astroturfing ,” or coordinated campaigns of inauthentic posts to create the illusion of widespread grassroots support for a policy, individual, or viewpoint, when no such widespread support exists.  Similar to flooding, the PRC uses astroturfing to inundate the information space with “positive stories ” about Xinjiang and the Uyghur population, including manufactured depictions of Uyghurs living “simple happy lives,” as well as posts emphasizing the purported economic gains that the PRC’s policies have brought to Xinjiang.  In mid-2021, more than 300 pro-PRC inauthentic accounts posted thousands of videos of Uyghurs seeming to deny abuse in the region and claiming they were “very free.” These videos claimed to show widespread disagreement throughout Xinjiang with claims in international media that Uyghurs were oppressed.  However, according to the New York Times  and ProPublica , propaganda officials in Xinjiang created most of these videos, which first appeared on PRC-based platforms and then spread to YouTube and Twitter, in order to manipulate public opinion.

A.I.  Generated Images Used To Create the Appearance of Authenticity

Since at least January 2021 , pro-PRC networks have used advanced artificial intelligence-generated content, such as   ]StyleGAN machine-learning[/url] generated images, to fabricate realistic-looking profile pictures for their inauthentic accounts.  Unlike stolen images of real people, these tools create composite images that cannot be traced using a reverse image search, making it harder to determine whether the account is inauthentic.  Some of these accounts repeatedly denied the PRC’s atrocities in Xinjiang, falsely asserting that the body of overwhelming and objective independent evidence of the atrocities is simply a fabrication of the United States and its allies.

Transnational Repression, Trolling, and Cyberbullying To Silence Dissent

PRC-sponsored transnational repression targets those who speak out against the PRC, particularly in Chinese diaspora communities , with on- and offline harassment to prevent them from sharing their stories or to intimidate them into self-censorship. Trolling campaigns are designed to silence  those who speak out against the PRC, to poison the information environment with bad-faith arguments, and to silence opposing viewpoints.  Trolling campaigns frequently evolve into threats of death, rape, or assault; malicious cyber-attacks; and cyberbullying or harassment through doxxing  – publishing an individual’s personal information online without their permission, including their full name, home address, or job.  In March 2021, the PRC Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) publicly questioned  several individuals’ claims of maltreatment.

Narrative Focus

PRC Xinjiang narratives focus on denying criticism and amplifying “positive stories” in an attempt to counter accusations of genocide and crimes against humanity.  The most aggressive PRC messengers often go on the offensive, creating false equivalencies with the actions of other countries to distract from international criticism of PRC behavior.

Rebutting/Denying Criticism from Independent Media Sources

PRC messengers both post and amplify content that denies claims made by independent media outlets and internationally renowned think tanks.  In response to third-party accusations  that the PRC subjects Uyghurs to forced  labor , a wave of PRC diplomatic  accounts , PRC- and Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-affiliated media  organizations , and suspected bot  networks  posted stories about the mechanized  cotton harvesting process in Xinjiang, suggesting that the Xinjiang cotton industry has no need for forced labor.  This messaging avoided responding to reports regarding the PRC authorities’ transfer of an estimated 100,000 Uyghurs out of Xinjiang in “coercive labor placements ” to work in factories elsewhere in the PRC.

Amplifying “Positive Stories” To Counter/”Disprove” Accusations of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity

PRC actors use hashtags such as #AmazingXinjiang and #Xinjiang to amplify positive stories about Xinjiang and counter independent reporting of allegations of crimes against humanity and genocide by PRC authorities.  Stories of a multicultural society  living in harmony  stand in contrast to the reality of the PRC’s extensive surveillance  of Uyghurs, including PRC officials living  in Uyghur homes for at least six weeks a year.  This messaging aims to divert attention from reports regarding the PRC’s “demographic engineering ” campaign to systematically increase  the Han Chinese population in Xinjiang and to “dilute ” Uyghur population concentrations  in the region.

“Whataboutism” and False Equivalencies Used To Distract/Deflect Criticism

PRC actors, including voluble diplomats in the MFA’s Information Department use “whataboutism” and false equivalencies  to distract from the PRC’s policies in Xinjiang and to portray accusers as hypocritical .  Their arguments do not advance the case that the PRC is innocent; rather, they make the point that other countries are equally guilty of abuses.  Despite these efforts to distract from the situation in Xinjiang, independent media outlets, academics, and human rights activists have published multiple eyewitness accounts and verifiable data that the PRC has imprisoned  an estimated one million people  and that credible evidence exists of torture , forced  sterilization , and other abuses.

PRC MESSENGERS

The PRC’s most aggressive messengers are  a subset of PRC diplomatic officials known for their confrontational messaging.  Additionally, PRC- and CCP-affiliated media spread Xinjiang-related disinformation on a global scale in at least a dozen languages.  To reach and resonate with global audiences, the PRC turns to private media companies and multilingual social media influencers.  Trolls take the lead on attacking, stirring controversies, insulting, and harassing netizens to poison the information environment and distract from narratives critical of the PRC.

Subset of PRC Diplomats Lead with Assertive Messaging

Most of the PRC’s diplomatic social media messaging is positive and tends to focus on highlighting good relations with other countries and seeks to burnish the PRC’s image. A minority  of MFA officials – dubbed “wolf warriors ” by some commentators – use social media platforms to defend the PRC’s national interests, often in confrontational ways .  These individuals are most likely to try to deny, “disprove,” and deflect narratives that run counter to PRC official messaging.  For example, to distract from the atrocities in Xinjiang, PRC messengers spread a false narrative  claiming that the CIA was trying to foment unrest  in Xinjiang in order to bring down the PRC.  This aggressive style allows the PRC to experiment with different types of messaging to see what plays well at home and abroad.  For example, some MFA officials’ accounts repeatedly spread disinformation and conspiracy theories  regarding the origin  of the virus  that causes COVID-19 and about Russia’s unjustified and unprovoked war  against Ukraine.

PRC- and CCP-Affiliated Media Spread Xinjiang-Related Disinformation Globally

PRC- and CCP-affiliated media outlets like China Global Television Network, China Daily, China Radio International, and Xinhua produce content in at least 12 languages and devote significant resources to advertising on social media.  In February 2021, facing growing international scrutiny over the PRC’s genocide in Xinjiang, Xinhua released a “fact sheet ” containing numerous false claims, such as stating that the internment camps holding Uyghurs in Xinjiang are “vocational education and training centers”’ that have “fully guaranteed the trainees’ personal freedom and dignity.” However, detainees’ testimonies published by Amnesty International  allege that the PRC subjected them to regular interrogation, torture, and other mistreatment. The PRC partners with foreign media to republish both PRC-produced and PRC-backed content to local audiences, giving Beijing’s chosen narratives a level of authority and credibility they would not be able to achieve on their own.  For example, Kenya Broadcasting Corporation ran a story by an anonymous author in November 2019 on the PRC’s “poverty alleviation ” policy in Xinjiang, causing observers to question its validity  and whether it was PRC propaganda.

PRC Increasingly Turns to Private Media Companies To Craft Foreign-Facing Information Manipulation Campaigns

The PRC outsources and privatizes  some of its foreign language information operations to take advantage of private sector innovation.  The PRC government engages with at least 90 PRC-based firms to design foreign-facing information manipulation campaigns to portray the PRC positively.  For example, a publishing organization operated by the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Bureau of Radio, Film and Television and affiliated with the CCP’s United Front Work Department paid a marketing company  to create videos depicting Uyghurs supporting the PRC government, which a network of inauthentic accounts then amplified on Twitter and YouTube.

Inauthentic Networks Used To Amplify PRC Narratives

Inauthentic networks  of bots as well as real accounts that tweet and retweet PRC-approved narratives flood the information space and support astroturfing campaigns.  One network of accounts posts information denying  atrocities in Xinjiang or accusing “the West” of hypocrisy and another, larger network of accounts amplifies it through retweets and reposting.  Stanford University’s Internet Observatory Cyber Policy Center assesses that the PRC’s English-language inauthentic networks have not been successful  at gaining traction among foreign audiences.

Influencers Used To Better Reach Young International Audiences

PRC authorities believe social media influencers can help to push PRC messaging to shape local information environments due to their relatability and authenticity.  CCP planners seek to adapt how they reach younger media consumers globally and are designing foreign propaganda to be more “youthful” and viral while strictly adhering to political “red lines .” In June 2021, Shen Haixiong, the head of state-run China Media Group – which falls under the direction of the CCP’s Propaganda Department – promoted  the use of “multilingual internet celebrity studios ” to enhance the PRC’s image in key regions.  Analytics firm Miburo Solutions identified more than 200 third-country influencers  affiliated with PRC state media creating social media content in at least 38 languages, including English, Spanish, French, Arabic, and Russian with an average reach of 309,000 followers.  Miburo found that the PRC uses influencers to advance its narratives regarding Xinjiang by obscuring state media employees’ affiliations and by orchestrating pro-PRC Western influencers’ tours of Xinjiang.

Trolls Used To Defend PRC Positions and Attack, Insult, and Harass Critics

Internet trolls mainly working under the auspices of the People’s Liberation Army, the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission, or the Communist Youth League directly attack critics online.  According to the French Military School Strategic Research Institute , PRC trolls’ tactics include defending the PRC, attacking and trying to discredit critics, feeding controversies, insulting, and harassing.  The PRC’s Cyberspace Affairs Commission and Central Propaganda Department directly employ an estimated two million people nationwide in this capacity and another 20 million working as part-time “network civilization volunteers .”  These forces target the PRC’s domestic audience and Chinese-speaking diaspora communities.  In response to the Hong Kong protests  in 2019, the PRC started to invest more in influencing users of U.S.-based platforms, such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, as well as international platforms, such as VKontakte and Telegram.  In 2021, cybersecurity firm FireEye’s Mandiant Threat Intelligence arm  and Google’s Threat Analysis Group identified elements of an ongoing PRC-backed information operation  that targeted a range of issues, including Xinjiang, in various languages across 30 social media platforms and 40 websites. Collapse Read »

Nazem Kadri brought the Stanley Cup to a mosque in London, Ontario today a little over a year after a Muslim family was killed in a hate attack in the same city. A truly extraordinary moment for the sport & the country. 
 

 
 
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Today marks the completion of 4th year of Aasif Sultan’s illegal imprisonment. His case is a small example of what Kashmiri Muslims have had to face at the hands of the Indian forces and state. May Allah ﷻ have mercy upon him and our Kashmiri brethren. #FreeAasifSultan
 
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